The Friendzone
by Tassie Taker
Summary: Maybe if one of them could be brave enough to admit the truth everyone knew, things would turn something wonderful into something amazing. - Real world slice of life/romancey fluff, so sue me. LucyxNatsu
1. Chapter 1

The warm sun that shone through the cracks of her blinds was welcoming as it slowly caused her to wake, rubbing her eye with a small hand and a yawn she sat upright, smiling down at the small white dog that lay, still sleeping, at the end of her bed somehow undisturbed by her movements;

"Someone could break in and you wouldn't even notice, huh, Plue?"

The dog didn't reply, still sound asleep in whatever happy dreams dogs liked to have, stretching herself upright with a small moan she flipped the covers off herself, causing a sleepy huff from the dog she'd just covered.

"Come one sleepy head, time to get up."

The white dog shifted from under the covers, once finding freedom shaking from head to toe, before jumping off the bed and running himself though his owners feet, causing her to cry out in agitation as she tried to make her way to her closed bedroom door, pulling on a soft pink dressing gown as she went as a blocker to the cold that was causing goose bumps on her bare skin and legs, it was mornings like these she always cursed her choice in revealing nightdresses. Plue shot of like a rocket once she opened the door, bounding down the staircase and rounding the door to the small lounge room, only to pause, cock his head, turn around and run down the other side of the hall towards the backdoor, she smiled;

"Crazy dog."

Stretching once more she made her way down the staircase at a much slower pace, walking around it to follow Plue to was waiting at the backdoor, sitting with his tail whishing widely back and forth.

"Don't wake the whole neighbourhood, ok?"

Bending down she unlocked the small dog door that allowed Plue to come and go as he pleased, giving her a small lick on the hand as he pushed himself out of it barely before she had been able to remove her hand leaving her with a smile on her face as she made her way back down the hall.

_Snoooreeee_

She paused as the loud noise echoed through her house, before sighing and shaking her head, stomping her way down the hall making as much noise as she could, rounding the corner and stomping into the lounge room;

"Natsu!"

She didn't even have to look at the messy pink hair that sprung out from the arm of her large couch, one muscular arm draped over it rising and falling steadily to know who the loud noise belonged to. Huffing when her yell got no reply she stomped even louder than before, causing the shelves and bookcase that lined the room to shake, before she gave her pink haired intruder one very hard, and very loud, slap to the ear causing the owner to sit up in surprise, one side of spikey pink hair flatted down from where it had been laid upon, deep onyx eyes sleepily looking around for the source of the sudden pain, giving a sleepy smile as his eyes found the petite blonde that stood next to the arm of the couch, her arms crossed over her chest as well as she could due to the large breasts that sat there as she took in his appearance even more, his work shirt was discarded on the floor, along with the shined dress shoes and white socks, leaving him only in black dress pants and a belt, revealing that oh so alluring muscular chest of his.

"Heh, mornin' Luce'."

Words often failed her as she looked at him, just wanting to stare into his handsome face or wanting to know what it might have felt like to be held in his toned body or how his lips _might_…, _and _it was his shear lack of personal privacy, the lock on her lounge room window permanently broken due to the amount of times he had forced it open, not using the front door like a sane person even when he was invited always smiling that goofy smile like he didn't realise he'd done anything wrong. She sighed, unfolding her arms and running her hand though her hair;

"Hungry?"

He smiled even larger in reply scratching his hair causing it to spike up once more causing a pang of envy from her, it was so ridiculously easy for his hair to look good, stupid spiky pink hair.

"Get that drool off my couch and I might make you something then."

"I don't drool."

She pointed to the dark patch that sat on the arm of the couch that had been revealed when he had sat upright, but this only caused his eyes to glint mischievously.

"That's not drool."

"Urgh! You are disgusting."

He howled at laughter at her reaction, but this only caused her to scowl.

"I guess that means you don't want breakfast, pity though. I _always_ have bacon on Sunday mornings."

She turned quickly, her hair flicking out behind her as she slowly made her way back out into the hallway.

"Heyy! I like bacon!"

"Then stop being so disgusting and I _might_ let you have some."

"You're mean, Lucy."

She waved him off as she continued her way across the hall to the kitchen and he couldn't help but smile as he watched her go, enjoying the way her hips swayed despite himself, stretching absentmindedly as he turned to look down at the clean white shirt that lay discarded on the floor where he had left it early that morning. Sunday mornings had been this way for a while, he'd come over to her place at whatever ungodly hour the last overly drunk young adults would drag themselves out of the popular nightclub he'd been working at for three years, doing every kind of odd job from bartending to being the bouncer, lifting himself through the lounge room window, ripping off the stuffy work shirt and crashing on her couch. The habit of _inviting _himself over to her house stretching back way further than that, starting when they had both hit high school, she'd often come home from whatever afterschool program her father had seen fit to enrol her in to find him lounging on her bed watching T.V, it happening so often that her father had seen fit to make him his own key so he'd stop climbing up the struts that held up the climbing ivy. Sighing he picked up the shirt and rubbed it on the arm of the chair a few times before leaving it there, standing with a groan and making his way to the kitchen where he could already smell something wonderful and delicious, _oh_ and the bacon, not surprising her one bit when he suddenly appeared behind her.

"Need me to do anything?"

"Coffee."

She waved her hand over at the coffee pot that sat empty on the bench not too far from where they stood.

"Can I wear one of your aprons too?" He snickered as he walked towards the sink with the pot in hand.

"Sure, I'll take a photo and send it to Gray."

"…_I hate you…_"

"Or maybe I'll just post it to Facebook."

"You're evil. Sure you don't need me to do anything else."

"Nah." She smiled at him as she cracked an egg into the pan, he'd likely kill her in devious ways if she ever mentioned that he was actually an amazing cook to anyone, the common opinion on him was that he was some kind of crazy pyromaniac, setting the stove far too high and burning everything, likely due to the glee he had always taken whenever matches had been part of any kind of class or event. He'd confessed to her that he actually enjoyed cooking, and from the few meals he'd actually made for her, they had been the best things she'd ever tasted, even if he sometimes did get a little happy with the spicier ingredients. He pulled out one of the stools that sat behind the kitchen island, opting for a glass of water rather than the coffee he'd just put on, he was hyperactive enough without caffeine in his system and the few times he'd actually touched the stuff, well, the less said about that, the better, it had a worse effect on him than alcohol. Idly pushing the papers and books that lay across the bench out of his way.

"Exams?"

"Yeah… my brain hurts already."

To say that he was proud of his best friend was an understatement, she'd always been smart in school, but now she was studying to become astronomer, a freakin' scientist! Where has he had always just passed, one or two points always from failing but never actually getting a failing grade, aside from anything sports related that was, he always aced those classes, but whenever he noticed the shear amount of notes and ridiculously large books smattered all around her house he couldn't help but feel his stomach churn.

"When are they?"

"Next week."

He gave a small nod, he _hated_ exam weeks, and he didn't even have to take them. It was the state she put herself in that always made him so angry he just wanted to beat the crap out of someone. _(This someone normally taking the form of Gray, his 'friendenemy'.) _She'd barely eat, the whole time before an exam she'd just have her head in those books and then when one was over she'd be cramming for the next one. He wasn't sure if she'd always been this bad when it came to exam time, after all, before she had started university and he had left school altogether they would study together, even if she'd pass with flying colours and he'd barely pass. She wasn't completely oblivious to her friends inner turmoil at the news of exams as she placed a plate next to his glass, pilled with more bacon that she'd think she'd ever be able to stomach. Since she'd started this full on study it had always been him that would appear at three AM in the morning, shoving some kind of take away into her hands, or on the lucky occasion something he'd cooked himself, before sending her to bed despite her complaints about needing to study more, waking her sometime around noon before taking the long walk back to his own home, not driving or using public transport due to his severe motion sickness. Repeating this cycle every few days, often he'd bring her something epically greasy and fattening on Sunday, due to working the whole weekend. Turning her back and poring herself a coffee she heard the tell-tale signs of bacon being devoured as if he was some kind of dragon eating its pray.

"Good?"

"Ifs' great! Fanks' Luce'."

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Yes, _mom._"

Yawning she took the stool next to him, pushing the papers away with a sigh, placing her own, much smaller plate of breakfast down next to his.

"What's wrong?"

His face was far more serious than it was ever supposed to be, his onyx eyes watching her chocolate brown ones with worry.

"How long do you think we'll be like this?"

"Be like what?"

"Stuck in the 'Friendzone.'"

"Until one of us is brave enough to admit how we feel, I suppose."

"Hmmm."

She blew into her coffee.

"Hey, Lucy?"

"Yeah, Natsu?"

"I love you."  
She looked up at him and smiled, giving into her own stupid desires and kissing him full on the lips, causing him to give a large toothy grin when she pulled back.

"I love you too, Flame for Brains."

"Hah, you love me! I knew you were a Weirdo."

* * *

_A/N: bahh! so much fluff! *splutter*, its harder for me to write something like this seeing how my fics always seem to touch on the darker side of things. Anyway, this was a dream, weird dream, but a dream. It was also nice to write Natsu not being a bastard (See Reverse Flame, my "main" Fairy Tail Fanfic if you're wondering.) I think I'm starting to like LucyxNatsu more than LucyxLoke. (Edit, fixed a mistake I noticed.)_


	2. Bonus

_A/N: Ehhh, I wrote more, enjoy._

* * *

She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she sat on the old, warn, office chair, rubbing so hard that dark shapes filled her eye sight for a moment before she was able to focus back on the text she was reading.

_Perturbation theory comprises mathematical methods that are used to find an approximate solution to a problem which cannot be solved exac-_

_THUD._

She buried her face deeper into the book, the mantra of "ignore the thud, ignore the thud," running through her head, but ended up to be to no avail as the book was wrenched from her grip.

"Come on."

She moaned and placed her head on the desk at the voice of the masculine voice, a flush covering her cheeks as strong hands took her waist.

"Nope, no complaining. Its three AM, time for something to eat."

"I can't, I need to-"

"Study, I know, I know."

Still with those strong hands around her waist she was gently pulled out from behind the desk and spun around, her bright brown eyes catching onyx ones instantly, her face flushing even more.

"How many times have you read that now? Six? Seven?"

"Eighteen."

He gave her a wide grin; "You'll ace the exam, Luce'. You always do." Shifting his hands slightly he stood her up out of the chair, with only slight protest, before flinging her into his chest, his strong arms holding her tight.

"Missed you."

She smiled into his chest; "It was only three days, silly." She tried her best to sound irritated, but it didn't work, hooking her arms under his and holding him as best she could.

"_Mmm_, I know. Happy misses you too."

She gave a small breathy laugh at the mention of his adorable cat. Perhaps the only living being on the planet he doted on more than her. She wasn't sure if the cat _actually_ missed her, it seemed to enjoy causing her trouble more than anything else.

"He, _uh_, might have, _maybe_, unravelled that sweeter you left at my place…"

"Damn cat."

He pulled them out of the embrace and gently rubbed the side of her face, "You love him." She gave a sigh and a shrug, attempting to sneak backwards to her desk, in the hope of grabbing another book only to have her hand taken.

"No, eat now, and then sleep, then you can study more."

"Natsu, seriously, I need to study. If I don't pass this exam then I won't be able to-"He gave her a light peck on the lips, catching her by surprise;

"You _will_ pass, Lucy." He smiled at her brightly. "Now that that's settled." He pulled her away from the desk, tugging her with him as he strode into the kitchen. "What do you want to eat?"

"You're gonna cook?" She placed her hands on her hips once he let go of her hand.

"Sure, why not?"

"Because you've been working since one this afternoon?"

"_Meh_. I wanna cook you something."

She gave a sly smile; "Only if you wear my apron."

"Oh, you're nasty, Luce'."

She unhooked the pink, frilly apron from its place on the wall and handed it out to the man before her, who looked at it like it was made of poison. She wiggled it about a bit, a mischievous grin plastered on her face.

"If you don't put it on I-"He snatched it from her with a grunt, forcing his head through the loop of fabric that kept it around the neck. His body too bulky for him to be able to tie it at the back, in fact, it only barely covered his front.

"Happy?"

"_Mmmm,_ very."

"If you take a photo and send it to Gray, I will kill you Luce'."

"Nah, you wouldn't."

She pulled out a stool and sat as he dived into the fridge, his eyes scanning the contents in there and wondering what might still be edible, she hadn't gone shopping, nor left the house other than for exams, for a good two weeks.

"You need to go shopping, Luce'."

"After exams."

He shut the fridge door with his foot, a few items cradled in his arms;

"No, tomorrow."

"Natsu, I don't-"

"Lucy, please."

She huffed; she just couldn't fight back when he used the "P-word." He wasn't looking at her, he was still rummaging around in her cupboards for things that were edible, but she could easily see those dark black eyes in "puppy-dog mode" in her mind.

"Fine."

"I'll make Gray take us in the morning."

"Us?"

He turned to her, a slight smile on his lips; "You won't do it if I don't come."

She pouted, yes, that was true, she was more likely to lie to him that she'd gone and make sure he didn't take foot in the kitchen until she'd finished exams and actually gone shopping, however she was still glad that he was willing to put up with the excruciating motion sickness he suffered just to make sure she was taking care of herself.

"What are you making?"

"Dunno'. Something with chicken."

She hummed, swinging her legs back and forth while she watched him work, her mouth quickly becoming dry when she saw the large amounts of chilli he was chopping.

"Uh, I'm going to regret this."

"It'll clear out your sinuses, Luce'."

"_That _and some other things."

He gave a loud laugh, smiling to himself as he worked, happily listening and replying to her comments, keeping one eye on her just to make sure she wouldn't dash back to the study when he wasn't looking.

She leaned back on his large chest as they sat on the couch, plates emptied and forgotten, admittedly feeling a better now she had something in her stomach, even if her mouth was still ridiculously dry.

"Natsu…?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't think I've ever thanked you for this."

"For what?"

"Looking out for me."

Lips dusted her side of her neck;

"You don't need to thank me Luce'."

"But I do! You do so much for me; I don't think I've ever done anything this nice for you in return."

"Yes, you have."

She turned to face him, his onyx eyes glittering in the low light of the lamp that sat a little ways away.

"You love me, right?"

She smiled; "You're so corny." He smiled back; "You know you like it."


End file.
